Lineker praises Sturridge and Liverpool performance, says United were 'awful'

Perhaps not all eyes, but certainly a large number, were on Manchester United's match against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

And what they saw was a master-class in away-day-play from Brendan Rodgers' side as the Reds completely dominated their hosts in every area of the pitch.

Liverpool's 3-0 victory did not just mean they climbed back up to second in the Premier League table. It also sent a message to the other clubs wrestling for the title. And however much they may still want to downplay it, Liverpool now have an outstanding chance of holding the league trophy aloft come May.

One man who was particularly impressed with the Reds' performance was Gary Lineker, who took to Twitter to express his admiration at their performance.

When they took the lead through Steven Gerrard's first penalty, Lineker said it was thoroughly deserved and that they had been excellent thus far. He was less complimentary of United's performance up to that point.

The Match of the Day presenter also said Daniel Sturridge should be chosen to play a central role for England because he gives options behind the opposition defence; something Lineker said was not the case with Wayne Rooney.

And at the final whistle, he joked that United would find it tough to reclaim their Premier League title now...when in truth that chance was lost a long time ago.

You can see Lineker's tweets below:

Liverpool deserve their lead. They've been excellent. United have been bloody awful!

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. He has worked for HITC for four years and is now Head of Editorial and Journalist Standards.